Mileys Cyrus Audition for Hannah Montana

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It’s the hottest ticket in town

‘Hannah Montana’ sparks resale frenzy; prices reach $1,840

Every ticket for the Dec. 9 “Hannah Montana” concert at Conseco Fieldhouse sold in a flash last weekend, but hundreds of marked-up seats are available on the resale market.

Renny Harrison of local brokerage company Circle City Tickets says consumer demand and prices set by his company are higher than for any other concert in Conseco Fieldhouse history. Since opening in 1999, the basketball arena has presented popular acts ranging from Paul McCartney to the Backstreet Boys to late tenor Luciano Pavarotti.

The “Hannah Montana” tour, a spinoff enterprise of the Disney Channel television series starring Miley Cyrus, will visit 49 cities from Oct. 18 to Jan. 9. Tickets for several dates sold out quickly Aug. 18, and the buying frenzy in Indianapolis and other cities in the Midwest ensued Sept. 15.

“We were one of the later shows of the tour to go on sale,” Harrison said. “We were aware ahead of time that the demand was going to be very good. We were geared up and ready for it.”

At the Circle City Web site, which combines tickets offered by dozens of broker companies, more than 1,000 tickets are listed for the “Hannah Montana” tour.

The asking price for a second-row ticket is $1,840, with individual balcony seats in the neighborhood of $150. These tickets originally were sold for $56 and $26. Circle City’s asking price for its best ticket to the Oct. 14 Van Halen show at the venue — which will feature vocalist David Lee Roth in the band’s lineup for the first time in more than 20 years — is $1,160.

Indianapolis resident Amy Messang, mother of an 11-year-old daughter, doubts she will pay three figures for a “Hannah Montana” ticket after coming up empty last weekend.

Messang made unsuccessful attempts to connect with Ticketmaster’s Web site (no tickets available) and phone lines (all circuits busy) when tickets were offered to the general public at 10 a.m. Sept. 15. Messang made a last-ditch try at a Macy’s department store, where a Ticketmaster clerk greeted her at 10:20 a.m.

“She said, ‘Are you here for ‘Hannah Montana’ tickets?’ I said, ‘Yes,’ and all she said was, ‘Sorry, they’re gone,’ ” said Messang, who added that the clerk reported less than a minute of sales before all seats were reserved.

How does a 16,000-capacity venue fill so quickly?

Many seats aren’t in play the day concert tickets go on sale to the general public.

Fan club members are given an early shot at tickets, which numbered 4,000 for a “Hannah Montana” tour stop in Kansas City — where parents were so distressed by a quick sellout that City Council members held a public forum with representatives of the yet-to-open Sprint Center arena and Ticketmaster, according to The Kansas City Star.

Conseco Fieldhouse suite holders are the equivalent of season ticket holders, and some companies such as American Express extend presale offers to customers. The performing musicians, meanwhile, are given tickets to use as they wish.

Ticketmaster maintains it sets aside no tickets for brokers.

Kirstyn Schwartz, spokeswoman for St. Louis-based concert promoter AEG Live (the promoter of the “Hannah Montana” tour), declined to be interviewed for this report. Walt Disney Records, which distributes “Hannah Montana” recordings, could not be reached.

People shut out of buying “Hannah Montana” tickets Sept. 15 probably didn’t try their luck at Conseco Fieldhouse, arena spokesman Kevin Messenger said.

The box office sold tickets to roughly 300 customers who showed up in person, thanks to an undisclosed amount of tickets the venue held apart from the general pool available at Ticketmaster’s phone, Internet and walk-up locations.

At 9 a.m., the box office distributed numbers to randomly assign who would be first in line.

“Everybody that was here early for the lottery was satisfied,” Messenger said.

The Conseco Fieldhouse box office will be open at 10 a.m. today, when tickets go on sale for a Nov. 8 performance by country music star Keith Urban.

Members of Urban’s “Monkeyville” fan club, which charges annual dues of $24.99, were allowed to purchase presale tickets Tuesday through Thursday.

Empty-handed parent Messang said she considered but ultimately decided against joining the “Hannah Montana” fan club ($29.95 in annual dues) before Sept. 15.

About ‘Hannah Montana’

The Disney Channel series “Hannah Montana” features 14-year-old Miley Cyrus in the role of Miley Stewart, an ordinary teen who keeps her celebrity life as singer Hannah Montana under wraps. Since its 2006 debut, “Hannah Montana” has generated two top-selling soundtracks, various DVD releases and video games. Cyrus is the daughter of country vocalist Billy Ray “Achy Breaky Heart” Cyrus, who’s also part of the “Hannah Montana” television cast.

“Her initial response was to hold back tears, I think,” Messang said of her daughter’s response to the sellout. “Then it was, ‘That’s OK, Mom. It’s not the end of the world.’ “

Ticket broker Harrison said “Hannah Montana” tickets will stay hot on the resale market as long as parents want their youngsters to attend.

“It’s unusual for a family event to be of such extreme popularity, but we’ve seen it before,” Harrison said. “We’ve seen it with the success that the Colts have had, and we’ve seen it with Kenny Chesney and Jimmy Buffett concerts. This is not driven by kids with deep pockets buying tickets for themselves. This is driven by their parents.”